Sisters (TV series)

Sisters was a television drama which aired on NBC for six seasons, from 1991 to 1996. The show debuted on May 11, 1991 for a seven-episode test run, and was renewed for the 1991 fall schedule. The show revolved around the Reed sisters who lived in Winnetka, Illinois. Their father was a recently deceased workaholic doctor and their mother suffered from alcoholism as a coping mechanism to deal with her husband's death. Memorably, for the first few seasons the show began each episode with the sisters' weekly ritual of chatting while taking a steam bath together.

The show was unique in that each episode featured a number of flashbacks, in which the characters would interact as youths, with younger actresses playing the characters as children or teenagers. Although a drama with soap opera-style storylines, the show was also often quirky and offbeat in the style of other dramas at the time like Northern Exposure or future shows like Desperate Housewives.

The show was created by Ron Cowen and Daniel Lipman, who went on to adapt Queer as Folk for the American market.

Characters

• Alex Halsey, the eldest sister, played by Swoosie Kurtz. Her first husband was a wealthy, cross-dressing plastic surgeon (played by David Dukes) and her daughter Reed was a rebellious teenager (played by a succession of actors as the character grew older: Kathy Wagner, Ashley Judd and Noelle Parker). Although on the surface somewhat superficial, she was protective of her younger siblings and intervened when there was a crisis. She later married Al (Robert Klein), an outlandish appliance retailer who appeared in his own television commercials as "The Appliance King". Alex also suffered from breast cancer and became a TV talk show host.

• Second sister Teddy Reed, played by Sela Ward. A shoot-from-the-hip fashion designer who was also an at-times-uncontrollable alcoholic. She eventually became friends with her ex-husband Mitch (Ed Marinaro), who was re-married to her sister Frankie. However, at first, Teddy was extremely upset over their relationship -- her first appearance on the show was to attempt to break up their wedding in a drunken fit of jealousy by using a shotgun. She had a daughter with Mitch, Cat (Heather MacAdam), who was raped while at college. Teddy had long-term relationships with several men, including British millionaire Simon Bolt (Mark Frankel) and police Detective Falconer, played by George Clooney.

• Georgie Whitsig, the third sister played by Patricia Kalember. The most level-headed and responsible sister, a stay-at-home mom and sometime realtor with a seemingly perfect life with her husband John (Garrett M. Brown) and two sons. However, she faced crises stemming from her younger son's battle with leukemia and the resultant financial and emotional tolls on her marriage and elder son. Georgie later became a surrogate mother for her sister Frankie. Georgie's character is viewed as the stabilizer among her sisters. All of her sisters confide in and rely and depend on Georgie.

• Youngest sister Frankie Margolis, played by Julianne Phillips, was a workaholic businesswoman who suffered from infertility. She married her sister Teddy's ex-husband Mitch and had a surrogate baby courtesy of her sister Georgie. She was also married to her career though, which naturally helped put a strain on her relationship with Mitch. Her career eventually took her and son Thomas George to Japan, although Frankie did return for the two-hour series finale.

• Mom Beatrice Reed Ventnor, played by Elizabeth Hoffman, was the matriarch, who suffered from alcoholism. She later married retired judge Truman Ventnor, who suffered from Alzheimer's Disease. She died during the series' final episode.

• After Julianne Phillips decided to leave the show, the remaining sisters discovered a fifth "sister", a half-sister who was the love child of an affair the Reed father (played by Peter White) had with another woman. This fifth sister, Charley Hayes (played by Jo Anderson and then by Sheila Kelley) was integrated into the storylines starting in 1994. Her character, like her biological father, was a doctor.

Famous Guest Stars

• George Clooney had a recurring role on Sisters as a police detective and Teddy's boyfriend in 1993-1994, just before going on to star in ER.
• Ashley Judd was not well-known when she first began playing Reed Halsey. However, after she won critical acclaim for the film Ruby in Paradise, which she made in 1993 while starring in Sisters, she left the show to concentrate on her film career.
• Actor Paul Rudd (Friends, Clueless, The 40-Year-Old Virgin) starred as Reed's husband, Kirby Quimby Philby.
• Actress Nora Dunn of Saturday Night Live had a recurring role as TV producer "Norma Lear" (a clear play on the name of famous real-life TV producer Norman Lear).
• 7th Heaven star Stephen Collins played Dr. Gabriel Sorenson from 1995-1996.

Acclaim

The series received eight Emmy Award nominations over the course of its run, winning once, in 1994 for Sela Ward as Best Lead Actress. Swoosie Kurtz was also nominated twice in the Lead Actress Category.

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